Integrating event-based production information with financial and purchasing systems in product manufacturing

• US 20030154144A1
• Filed: 11/27/2002
• Published: 08/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Callahan Cellular LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Incorporated (Kimberly-Clark Corporation)
• Inventors: Shun Hoo, Winnie Shi Mei, Markham, Charles Earl, Pokorny, Michael Roy, Hise, John Harland, Nygaard, Kurt Sigurd, Shaffer, Gregory Duncan, Barber, Douglas Gordon Barron, Mork, Jamie Scott, Stambuk, Jose Andres, Matheus, Jon Ray, Bush, Perry A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,357,298 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/28
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 13/0285 using neural networks and fuzzy logic
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/048 Fuzzy inferencing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/00 Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism healthcare informatics G16H

Abstract

Integrating event-based production information with financial and purchasing systems in product manufacturing. Some of the disclosed embodiments include a method of tracking production information, a method of analyzing event-based production information to provide financial reports, a method of adapting an online production documentation system to provide financial report data, and a production documentation system. Also disclosed are computer-readable media for storing a data structure representing an event-based delay or waste record populated during manufacturing, and a method of automatically generating an alert and providing an associated financial report in a process for manufacturing a product associated with an event-based information system. The embodiments are operable in an intelligent manufacturing system including a process for converting raw materials to a product, a process control system including one or more sensors capable of generating an alarm in response to an event that results in one of waste, machine delay, or decrease product quality, a data logger associated with the process control system for obtaining event parameters associated with the event, a database on a server for recording event parameters obtained by the data logger, and a reporting system cooperatively associated with the database for reporting productivity parameters regarding the process derived at least in part from the event parameters.

Claims

1. A method for tracking production information, the method comprising:

collecting event-based production information during manufacture of a product, the production information comprising event data pertaining to at least one of waste and delay;

storing the collected production information in a database for processing; and

providing access to the stored production information to a financial system and/or a purchasing system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing comprises providing the stored production information to the financial system and/or the purchasing system in response to a request from such system.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the production information pertains to converting machine productivity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting comprises capturing automatic delay information on an event basis.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the capturing comprises creating a delay record in a database when a converting line halts during manufacture of the product.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting comprises capturing waste information on an event basis.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the capturing comprises creating a waste record in a database when a converting line halts during manufacture of the product.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial system and/or purchasing system comprises one or more of the following:

an inventory control system, a maintenance and reliability engineering system, a customer relationship management system, a data warehousing system, a manufacturing execution system, an enterprise resource planning system, and a maintenance scheduling system.

10. A method for tracking production information, the method comprising:

collecting event-based production information during manufacture of a product, the production information including event data pertaining to at least one of waste and delay summarized from a plurality of converting lines;

storing the collected production information in a database for processing; and

providing access to the stored production information to a financial system and/or a purchasing system.

11. A method for tracking production information, the method comprising:

collecting event-based production information during manufacture of a product, the collecting including capturing automatic delay information on an event basis, the capturing including creating a delay record in a database when a converting line halts during manufacture of the product, and the delay record including at least one of a delay duration, a timestamp, and a product count;

storing the collected production information in a database for processing; and

providing access to the stored production information to a financial system and/or a purchasing system.

12. A method for tracking production information, the method comprising:

collecting event-based production information during manufacture of a product, the collecting including capturing waste information on an event basis, the capturing including creating a waste record in a database when a converting line halts during manufacture of the product, and the waste record including at least one of a waste code, a defect count, a timestamp, and a product count;

storing the collected production information in a database for processing; and

providing access to the stored production information to a financial system and/or a purchasing system.

13. A method for analyzing production information to provide financial reports, the method comprising:

obtaining event-based production information pertaining to at least one of waste and delay from a documentation system in a manufacturing system;

storing the received production information in a database for processing; and

generating a financial report based on the stored production information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the obtaining comprises obtaining, from a documentation system, production information comprising data from a plurality of converting lines in a plurality of manufacturing plants.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the generating comprises analyzing the stored production information.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising implementing remedial action in response to the generating.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the product comprises a component, wherein the production information indicates that a component has failed, and wherein the remedial action comprises ordering a replacement for the failed component.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the production information comprises event data.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving a request from a user for the financial report, and wherein the generating occurs in response to the received request.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising storing the generated financial report in the database for a preset time interval.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the generating comprises measuring material consumption to calculate a product yield.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the production information comprises a first product count at material start and a second product count at material expire, and wherein the measuring comprises comparing the first product count and the second product count.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising storing at least one conversion factor, product dimension, and/or material add-on in the database for access during the measuring.

24. The method of claim 13, further comprising correlating productivity, waste, delay, and one or more raw materials.

25. The method of claim 13, wherein the generating comprises measuring packaging system waste and yield.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the production information comprises a plurality of product counts into and out of a packaging subsection during manufacturing of a product, and wherein the measuring comprises comparing the plurality of product counts.

27. The method of claim 13, wherein the production information comprises raw material data, and wherein the generating comprises linking the raw material data to an intermediate or finished product.

28. The method of claim 13, wherein the production information comprises raw material, waste, and delay data, and wherein the generating comprises linking the raw material data to the waste data and/or the delay data.

29. The method of claim 13, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 13.

30. A method for adapting an online production documentation system to provide financial report data, the method comprising:

identifying one or more event-based key performance indicators;

modifying output of a production documentation system to automatically track and generate the identified key performance indicators during manufacturing;

obtaining the generated key performance indicators from the production documentation system, the production documentation system including event records each having an event code, a timestamp, and a measure of cost associated with the event;

automatically generating summary data pertaining to the key performance indicators for a predetermined period of time; and

incorporating the summary data pertaining to the key performance indicators into a financial report.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising formatting the financial report for display via a hypertext markup language.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the identifying, modifying, obtaining, generating, and incorporating operate during a preset time interval.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the preset time interval comprises one or more of the following:

a week, a month, and a year.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein the key performance indicators comprise a percent total waste, the percent total waste being expressed as a ratio of discarded products to actual products.

35. The method of claim 30, wherein the key performance indicators describe one or more of the following:

profitability, efficiency, and production rate.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein the key performance indicators comprise one or more of the following:

machine uptime, a production rate, unscheduled downtime, out-of-control performance, and a production mode.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the production mode describes a status of the machine, the status comprising one or more of the following modes:

operating, maintenance, and halted.

38. The method of claim 30, wherein the key performance indicators relate to one or more of the following:

an individual machine, a mill, a plurality of mills, a plant, a plurality of plants, and a product category.

39. The method of claim 30, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 30.

40. A production documentation system comprising:

a first database storing event-based production information collected during manufacturing, the production information including automatically generated records pertaining to at least one of waste and delay, the records each having an event code, a timestamp, and a measure of lost production associated with the event;

a report component for creating a financial report by accessing the stored production information; and

a second database storing the created reports.

41. The production documentation system of claim 40, wherein the production information comprises event data.

42. The production documentation system of claim 40, wherein the report component and the second database comprise a financial system.

43. The production documentation system of claim 40, wherein the financial system comprises a purchasing system.

44. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components comprising:

a control system for collecting event-based production information during manufacture of a product;

a database module for storing the collected production information in a database for processing; and

a report module for creating a financial report by accessing the stored production information.

45. The computer-readable media of claim 44, wherein the report module comprises a user interface for receiving a request for the report from a user and delivering the report in response to the received request.

46. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure representing an event-based delay record populated during manufacturing, the data structure comprising:

a first field storing a delay code;

a second field storing a value representing a delay duration;

a third field storing a timestamp; and

a fourth field storing a product count.

47. The computer-readable media of claim 46, wherein the computer-readable media is associated with a financial system.

48. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure representing an event-based waste record populated during manufacturing, the data structure comprising:

a first field storing a waste code;

a second field storing a defect count;

a third field storing a timestamp; and

a fourth field storing a product count.

49. The computer-readable media of claim 48, wherein the computer-readable media is associated with a financial system.

50. In a process for manufacturing a product associated with an event-based information system comprising means for identifying an event related to at least one of waste and delay and means for recording the event in an event database, a method for automatically generating an alert and providing an associated financial report, the method comprising:

calculating the cost of waste and/or delay events during manufacturing based on event information recorded in an event database associated with the manufacturing process;

setting a cost-based alert criterion for automatic report generation of an alert, the criterion being selected from a cost threshold for waste and/or delay during a predetermined unit of time for one or more event categories and a cost threshold for a total of one or more of the events in succession;

comparing the calculated cost to the cost-based alert criterion to determine if the alert criterion has been met; and

in response to the alert criterion being met, automatically generating an alert and providing access to a financial report conveying information pertaining to the calculated cost.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the predetermined unit of time includes a moving span of time with a continuously advancing ending point.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein the predetermined unit of time includes a fixed span of time with a fixed starting point and a fixed ending point.

53. The method of claim 50, further comprising generating an electronic chart of event costs versus event type for a predetermined number of event types.

54. The method of claim 50, further comprising attaching or including the financial report with the alert.

55. The method of claim 50, wherein providing access to the financial report comprises providing access to the financial report via a hyperlink included with the alert.

56. The method of claim 50, wherein providing access to the financial report comprises providing access to an interactive chart having data extracted from the event database.

57. The method of claim 50, further comprising analyzing one or more of the events associated with the met alert criterion and automatically generating a recommended remedial action, wherein the recommended remedial action is transmitted to a supervisor for consideration.

58. The method of claim 50, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 50.

59. A method for tracking production information, the method comprising:

collecting event-based production information during manufacture of a product, the production information comprising event data;

storing the collected production information in a database for processing; and

providing access to the stored production information to a financial system and/or a purchasing system.

60. A production documentation system comprising:

a first database storing event-based production information collected during manufacturing, the production information including automatically generated records, the records each having an event code, a timestamp, and a measure of lost production associated with the event;

a report component for creating a financial report by accessing the stored production information; and

a second database storing the created reports.